Mus ic in poetry, singing in speech. "Words? Music? No: everything beyonds this", wrote James Joyce. This paper foliows the genesis of poetry and music as a dichotomy and a precedent of literature. Rhythm and the intonation of words were a musical component in many texts and songs. Although today's public no longer read verse poetry, people as spectators/singers like to hear and to sing the texts with the music, especially as a musical expression with the unity between word and music.